seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact
sections two and four, article three of said chapter; to
amend and reenact sections one and fifteen, article four-a
of said chapter; and to amend and reenact section one,
article six of said chapter, all relating to factory-built
homes; definitions; requiring certificate of title for
factory-built homes; criminal penalties; requiring
certificate of titles to show lienholders; and extending the
expiration date of liens on factory-built homes.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article one, chapter seventeen-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that sections two and four,
article three of said chapter be amended and reenacted; that
sections one and fifteen, article four-a of said chapter be
amended and reenacted; and that section one, article six of said
chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:

ARTICLE 1. WORDS AND PHRASES DEFINED.

§17A-1-1. De

finitions.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter the following
words and phrases when used in this chapter shall have the
meanings respectively ascribed to them in this article:
(a) "All-terrain vehicle" (ATV) means any motor vehicle
designed for off-highway use and designed for operator use only
with no passengers, having a seat or saddle designed to be
straddled by the operator, and handlebars for steering control.
(b) "Bus" means every motor vehicle designed to carry more
than seven passengers and used to transport persons; and every
motor vehicle, other than a taxicab, designed and used to
transport persons for compensation.
(c) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of motor vehicles
of this state.
(d) "Dealer" or "dealers" is a general term meaning,
depending upon the context in which used, either a new motor
vehicle dealer, used motor vehicle dealer, factory- built home dealer, recreational vehicle dealer,trailer dealer or motorcycle
dealer, as defined in section one, article six of this chapter,
or all of
the dealers or a combination thereof, and in some instances a new
motor vehicle dealer or dealers in another state.

(e) "Division" means the division of motor vehicles of this
state acting directly or through its duly authorized officers and
agents.
(f) "Essential parts" means all integral and body parts of
a vehicle of a type required to be registered hereunder, the
removal, alteration or substitution of which would tend to
conceal the identity of the vehicle or substantially alter its
appearance, model, type or mode of operation.
(g) "Factory-built home" includes mobile homes, house
trailers and manufactured homes.
(h) "Farm tractor" means every motor vehicle designed and
used primarily as a farm implement for drawing plows, mowing
machines and other implements of husbandry.
(i) "Fold down camping trailer" means every vehicle
consisting of a portable unit mounted on wheels and constructed
with collapsible partial sidewalls which fold for towing by another vehicle and unfold at the camp site to provide temporary
living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use.
(j) "Foreign vehicle" means every vehicle of a type required
to be registered hereunder brought into this state from another
state, territory or country other than in the ordinary course of
business by or through a manufacturer or dealer and not
registered in this state.
(k) "House trailers" means all trailers designed primarily
for highway use, but used for human occupancy on a continual
nonrecreational basis, but shall not include fold down camping
and travel trailers, mobile homes or manufactured homes.

(l) "Implement of husbandry" means every vehicle which is
designed for or adapted to agricultural purposes and used by the
owner thereof primarily in the conduct of his agricultural
operations, including, but not limited to, trucks used for
spraying trees and plants: Provided, That the vehicle shall not
be let for hire at any time.
(m) "Licensed dealer" or "licensed dealers" is a general
term meaning, depending upon the context in which used, either a
new motor vehicle dealer, used motor vehicle dealer, factory-
built home dealer, trailer dealer, recreational vehicle dealer or motorcycle dealer, or all of the dealers or a combination
thereof, licensed under the provisions of article six of this
chapter.
(n) "Manufactured home" has the same meaning as the term is
defined in section two, article nine, chapter twenty-one of this
code which meets the National Manufactured Housing Construction
and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. §5401 et seq.),
effective on the fifteenth day of June, one thousand nine hundred
seventy-six, and the federal manufactured home construction and
safety standards and regulations promulgated by the secretary of
the United States department of housing and urban development.
(o) "Manufacturer" means every person engaged in the
business of constructing or assembling vehicles of a type
required to be registered hereunder at a place of business in
this state which is actually occupied either continuously or at
regular periods by the manufacturer where his or her books and
records are kept and a large share of his or her business is
transacted.
(p) "Metal tire" means every tire the surface of which in
contact with the highway is wholly or partly of metal or other
hard, nonresilient material.
(q) "Mobile home" means a transportable structure that is wholly, or in substantial part, made, fabricated, formed or
assembled in manufacturing facilities for installation or
assembly and installation on a building site and designed for
long-term residential use and built prior to enactment of the
federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards
Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. §5401 et seq.), effective on the fifteenth
day of June, one thousand nine hundred seventy six, and usually
built to the voluntary industry standard of the American national
standards institute (ANSI) -- A119.1 standards for mobile homes.
(r) "Motorboat" means any vessel propelled by an electrical,
steam, gas, diesel or other fuel propelled or driven motor,
whether or not the motor is the principal source of propulsion,
but shall not include a vessel which has a valid marine document
issued by the bureau of customs of the United States government
or any federal agency successor thereto.
(s) "Motorcycle" means every motor vehicle, including
motor-driven cycles and mopeds as defined in sections five and
five-a, article one, chapter seventeen-c of this code, having a
saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not
more than three wheels in contact with the ground but excluding
a tractor.
(t) "Motor home" means every vehicle, designed to provide temporary living quarters, built into an integral part of or
permanently attached to a self-propelled motor vehicle, chassis
or van including:
(1) Type A motor home built on an incomplete truck chassis with
the truck cab constructed by the second stage manufacturer; (2)
Type B motor home consisting of a van-type vehicle which has been
altered to provide temporary living quarters; and (3) Type C
motor home built on an incomplete van or truck chassis with a cab
constructed by the chassis manufacturer.
(u) "Motorboat trailer" means every vehicle designed for or
ordinarily used for the transportation of a motorboat.
(v) "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is
self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric
power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon
rails.
(w) "Nonresident" means every person who is not a resident
of this state.
(x) "Owner" means a person who holds the legal title to a
vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement
for the conditional sale or lease thereof with the right of
purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the
agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a
vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or
lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of
this chapter.
(y) "Person" means every natural person, firm,
copartnership, association or corporation.
(z) "Pneumatic tire" means every tire in which compressed
air is designed to support the load.
(aa) "Pole trailer" means every vehicle without motive power
designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the
towing vehicle by means of a reach, or pole, or by being boomed
or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle, and ordinarily used
for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles,
pipes, or structural members capable, generally, of sustaining
themselves as beams between the supporting connections.
(bb) "Recreational vehicle" means a motorboat, motorboat
trailer, all-terrain vehicle, travel trailer, fold down camping
trailer, motor home or snowmobile.
(cc) "Reconstructed vehicle" means every vehicle of a type
required to be registered hereunder materially altered from its
original construction by the removal, addition or substitution of
essential parts, new or used.
(dd) "Registered dealer" or "registered dealers" is a
general term meaning, depending upon the context in which used,
either a new motor vehicle dealer, used motor vehicle dealer,
factory-built home dealer, trailer dealer, recreational vehicle
dealer or motorcycle dealer, or all of the dealers or a
combination thereof, licensed under the provisions of article six
of this chapter.
(ee) "Road tractor" means every motor vehicle designed, used
or maintained for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed
as to carry any load thereon either independently or any part of
the weight of a vehicle or load so drawn.
(ff) "School bus" means every motor vehicle owned by a
public governmental agency and operated for the transportation of
children to or from school or privately owned and operated for
compensation for the transportation of children to or from
school.
(gg) "Semitrailer" means every vehicle with or without
motive power designed for carrying persons or property and for
being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that some part
of its weight and that of its load rests upon or is carried by
another vehicle.
(hh) "Snowmobile" means a self-propelled vehicle intended for travel primarily on snow and driven by a track or tracks in
contact with the snow and steered by a ski or skis in contact
with the snow.
(ii) "Solid tire" means every tire of rubber or other
resilient material which does not depend upon compressed air for
the support of the load.
(jj) "Specially constructed vehicles" means every vehicle of
a type required to be registered hereunder not originally
constructed under a distinctive name, make, model or type by a
generally recognized manufacturer of vehicles and not materially
altered from its original construction.
(kk) "Special mobile equipment" means every self-propelled
vehicle not designed or used primarily for the transportation of
persons or property and incidentally operated or moved over the
highways, including, without limitation, farm equipment,
implements of husbandry, road construction or maintenance
machinery, ditch-digging apparatus, stone crushers, air
compressors, power shovels, cranes, graders, rollers,
well-drillers, wood-sawing equipment, asphalt spreaders,
bituminous mixers, bucket loaders, ditchers, leveling graders,
finishing machines, motor graders, road rollers, scarifiers,
earth-moving carryalls, scrapers, drag lines, rock-drilling equipment and earth-moving equipment. The foregoing enumeration
shall be deemed partial and shall not operate to exclude other
such vehicles which are within the general terms of this
subdivision.
(ll) "Street" or "highway" means the entire width between
boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part
thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of
vehicular travel.
(mm) "Trailer" means every vehicle with or without motive
power designed for carrying persons or property and for being
drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that no part of its
weight rests upon the towing vehicle but excluding recreational
vehicles.
(nn) "Transporter" means every person engaged in the
business of delivering vehicles of a type required to be
registered hereunder from a manufacturing, assembling or
distributing plant to dealers or sales agents of a manufacturer.
(oo) "Travel trailer" means every vehicle, mounted on
wheels, designed to provide temporary living quarters for
recreational, camping or travel use of such size or weight as not
to require special highway movement permits when towed by a motor
vehicle and of gross trailer area less than four hundred square feet.
(pp) "Truck" means every motor vehicle designed, used or
maintained primarily for the transportation of property.
(qq) "Truck tractor" means every motor vehicle designed and
used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed
as to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle
and load so drawn.
(rr) "Vehicle" means every device in, upon or by which any
person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a
highway, excepting devices moved by human power or used
exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.

ARTICLE3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF

CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.

§17A-3-2. Every motor vehicle, etc., subject to registration and

certificate of title provisions; exceptions.

(a) Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer
and recreational vehicle when driven or moved upon a highway
shall be subject to the registration and certificate of title
provisions of this chapter except:
(1) Any vehicle driven or moved upon a highway in
conformance with the provisions of this chapter relating to
manufacturers, transporters, dealers, lienholders or nonresidents
or under a temporary registration permit issued by the department as hereinafter authorized;
(2) Any implement of husbandry upon which is securely
attached a machine for spraying fruit trees and plants of the
owner or lessee or for any other implement of husbandry which is
used exclusively for agricultural or horticultural purposes on
lands owned or leased by the owner thereof and which is not
operated on or over any public highway of this state for any
other purpose other than for the purpose of operating it across
a highway or along a highway other than an expressway as
designated by the commissioner of the division of highways from
one point of the owner's land to another part thereof,
irrespective of whether or not the tracts adjoin: Provided, That
the distance between the points may not exceed twenty-five miles,
or for the purpose of taking it or other fixtures thereto
attached, to and from a repair shop for repairs. The foregoing
exemption from registration and license requirements shall also
apply to any vehicle hereinbefore described or to any farm
trailer owned by the owner or lessee of the farm on which the
trailer is used, when the trailer is used by the owner thereof
for the purpose of moving farm produce and livestock from the
farm along a public highway for a distance not to exceed
twenty-five miles to a storage house or packing plant, when the use is a seasonal operation:
(A) The exemptions contained in this section shall also
apply to farm machinery and tractors: Provided, That the
machinery and tractors may use the highways in going from one
tract of land to another tract of land regardless of whether the
land be owned by the same or different persons.
(B) Any vehicle exempted hereunder from the requirements of
annual registration certificate and license plates and fees
therefor shall not be permitted to use the highways between
sunset and sunrise.
(C) Any vehicle exempted hereunder from the requirements of
annual registration certificate and license plates shall be
permitted to use the highways as herein provided whether the
exempt vehicle is self-propelled, towed by another exempt vehicle
or towed by another vehicle for which registration is required.
(D) Any vehicle used as an implement of husbandry exempt
hereunder must have the words "farm use" affixed to both sides of
the implement in ten inch letters. Any vehicle which would be
subject to registration as a Class A or B vehicle if not exempted
by this section shall display a farm use exemption certificate on
the lower driver's side of the windshield.
(i) The farm use exemption certificate shall be provided by the commissioner and shall be issued annually by the assessor of
the applicant's county of residence. The assessor shall issue a
farm use exemption certificate upon his or her determination
pursuant to an examination of the property books or documentation
provided by the applicant that the vehicle has been properly
assessed as Class I personal property. The assessor shall charge
a fee of two dollars for each certificate, one dollar of the fee
shall be retained by the assessor and one dollar shall be
remitted by the assessor to the commissioner of the division of
motor vehicles to be deposited in a special revolving fund to be
used in the administration of this section.
(ii) A farm use exemption certificate shall in no way exempt
the applicant from maintaining the security as required by
chapter seventeen-d of this code on any vehicle being operated on
the roads or highways of this state.
(iii) No person charged with operating a vehicle without a
farm use exemption certificate, if required under this section,
shall be convicted if he or she produces in court or in the
office of the arresting officer a valid farm use exemption
certificate for the vehicle in question within five days;
(3) Any vehicle which is propelled exclusively by electric
power obtained from overhead trolley wires though not operated upon rails;
(4) Any vehicle of a type subject to registration owned by
the government of the United States;
(5) Any wrecked or disabled vehicle which is being towed by
a licensed wrecker or dealer on the public highways of this
state;
(6) The following recreational vehicles shall be exempt from
the requirements of annual registration, license plates and fees,
unless otherwise specified by law, but shall be subject to the
certificate of title provisions of this chapter regardless of
highway use: Motorboats, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles.
(b) The provisions of this article relating to recreational
vehicles shall become effective on the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred eighty-nine.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) and (b)
of this section:
(1) Mobile homes or manufactured homes are exempt from the
requirements of annual registration, license plates and fees;
(2) House trailers may be registered and licensed; and
(3) Factory-built homes are subject to the certificate of
title provisions of this chapter.

(a) Certificates of registration of any vehicle or
registration plates therefor, whether original issues or
duplicates, shall not be issued or furnished by the division of
motor vehicles or any other officer charged with the duty, unless
the applicant therefor already has received, or at the same time
makes application for and is granted, an official certificate of
title of the vehicle. The application shall be upon a blank form
to be furnished by the division of motor vehicles and shall
contain a full description of the vehicle, which description
shall contain a manufacturer's serial or identification number or
other number as determined by the commissioner and any
distinguishing marks, together with a statement of the
applicant's title and of any liens or encumbrances upon the
vehicle, the names and addresses of the holders of the liens and
any other information as the division of motor vehicles may
require. The application shall be signed and sworn to by the
applicant.
(b) A tax is hereby imposed upon the privilege of effecting
the certification of title of each vehicle in the amount equal to
five percent of the value of the motor vehicle at the time of the
certification, to be assessed as follows:
(1) (A) If the vehicle is new, the actual purchase price or
consideration to the purchaser thereof is the value of the
vehicle.
(B) If the vehicle is a used or secondhand vehicle, the
present market value at time of transfer or purchase is the value
thereof for the purposes of this section: Provided, That so much
of the purchase price or consideration as is represented by the
exchange of other vehicles on which the tax imposed by this
section has been paid by the purchaser shall be deducted from the
total actual price or consideration paid for the vehicle, whether
the vehicle be new or secondhand.
(C) If the vehicle is acquired through gift, or by any
manner whatsoever, unless specifically exempted in this section,
the present market value of the vehicle at the time of the gift
or transfer is the value thereof for the purposes of this
section.
(2) No certificate of title for any vehicle may be issued to
any applicant unless the applicant has paid to the division of
motor vehicles the tax imposed by this section which is five
percent of the true and actual value of the vehicle whether the
vehicle is acquired through purchase, by gift or by any other
manner whatsoever except gifts between husband and wife or between parents and children: Provided, That the husband or
wife, or the parents or children previously have paid the tax on
the vehicles transferred to the state of West Virginia.
(3) The division of motor vehicles may issue a certificate
of registration and title to an applicant if the applicant
provides sufficient proof to the division of motor vehicles that
the applicant has paid the taxes and fees required by this
section to a motor vehicle dealership that has gone out of
business or has filed bankruptcy proceedings in the United States
bankruptcy court and the taxes and fees so required to be paid by
the applicant have not been sent to the division by the motor
vehicle dealership or have been impounded due to the bankruptcy
proceedings: Provided, That the applicant makes an affidavit of
the same and assigns all rights to claims for money the applicant
may have against the motor vehicle dealership to the division of
motor vehicles.
(4) The division of motor vehicles shall issue a certificate
of registration and title to an applicant without payment of the
tax imposed by this section if the applicant is a corporation,
partnership or limited liability company transferring the vehicle
to another corporation, partnership or limited liability company
when the entities involved in the transfer are members of the same controlled group and the transferring entity has previously
paid the tax on the vehicle transferred. For the purposes of
this section, "control" means ownership, directly or indirectly,
of stock or equity interests possessing fifty percent or more of
the total combined voting power of all classes of the stock of a
corporation or equity interests of a partnership or limited
liability company entitled to vote or ownership, directly or
indirectly, of stock or equity interests possessing fifty percent
or more of the value of the corporation, partnership or limited
liability company.
(5) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to
vehicles to be registered as Class H vehicles or Class S
vehicles, as defined in section one, article ten of this chapter,
which are used or to be used in interstate commerce. Nor does
the tax imposed by this section apply to the titling of Class B,
Class K or Class E vehicles registered at a gross weight of
fifty-five thousand pounds or more, or to the titling of Class C
or Class L semitrailers, full trailers, pole trailers and
converter gear: Provided, That if an owner of a vehicle has
previously titled the vehicle at a declared gross weight of
fifty-five thousand pounds or more and the title was issued
without the payment of the tax imposed by this section, then before the owner may obtain registration for the vehicle at a
gross weight less than fifty-five thousand pounds, the owner
shall surrender to the commissioner the exempted registration,
the exempted certificate of title, and pay the tax imposed by
this section based upon the current market value of the vehicle:
Provided, however, That notwithstanding the provisions of section
nine, article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code, the exemption
from tax under this section for Class B, Class K or Class E
vehicles in excess of fifty-five thousand pounds and Class C or
Class L semitrailers, full trailers, pole trailers and converter
gear shall not subject the sale or purchase of the vehicles to
the consumers sales tax.
(6) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to
titling of vehicles leased by residents of West Virginia. A tax
is hereby imposed upon the monthly payments for the lease of any
motor vehicle leased by a resident of West Virginia, which tax is
equal to five percent of the amount of the monthly payment,
applied to each payment, and continuing for the entire term of
the initial lease period. The tax shall be remitted to the
division of motor vehicles on a monthly basis by the lessor of
the vehicle.
(7) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to titling of vehicles by a registered dealer of this state for
resale only, nor does the tax imposed by this section apply to
titling of vehicles by this state or any political subdivision
thereof or by any volunteer fire department or duly chartered
rescue or ambulance squad organized and incorporated under the
laws of the state of West Virginia as a nonprofit corporation for
protection of life or property. The total amount of revenue
collected by reason of this tax shall be paid into the state road
fund and expended by the commissioner of highways for matching
federal funds allocated for West Virginia. In addition to the
tax, there is a charge of five dollars for each original
certificate of title or duplicate certificate of title so issued:
Provided, That this state or any political subdivision thereof,
or any volunteer fire department or duly chartered rescue squad
is exempt from payment of the charge.
(8) The certificate is good for the life of the vehicle, so
long as the vehicle is owned or held by the original holder of
the certificate and need not be renewed annually, or any other
time, except as provided in this section.
(9) If, by will or direct inheritance, a person becomes the
owner of a motor vehicle and the tax imposed by this section
previously has been paid, to the division of motor vehicles, on that vehicle, he or she is not required to pay the tax.
(10) A person who has paid the tax imposed by this section
is not required to pay the tax a second time for the same motor
vehicle, but is required to pay a charge of five dollars for the
certificate of retitle of that motor vehicle, except that the tax
shall be paid by the person when the title to the vehicle has
been transferred either in this or another state from the person
to another person and transferred back to the person.
(c) Notwithstanding any provisions of this code to the
contrary, the owners of trailers, semitrailers, recreational
vehicles and other vehicles not subject to the certificate of
title tax prior to the enactment of this chapter are subject to
the privilege tax imposed by this section: Provided, That the
certification of title of any recreational vehicle owned by the
applicant on the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-nine, is not subject to the tax imposed by this section:
Provided, however, That factory-built homes, modular homes and
similar nonmotive propelled vehicles, except recreational
vehicles, susceptible of being moved upon the highways but
primarily designed for habitation and occupancy, rather than for
transporting persons or property, or any vehicle operated on a
nonprofit basis and used exclusively for the transportation of mentally retarded or physically handicapped children when the
application for certificate of registration for the vehicle is
accompanied by an affidavit stating that the vehicle will be
operated on a nonprofit basis and used exclusively for the
transportation of mentally retarded and physically handicapped
children, are not subject to the tax imposed by this section, but
are taxable under the provisions of articles fifteen and fifteen-
a, chapter eleven of this code.
(d) Any person making any affidavit required under any
provision of this section, who knowingly swears falsely, or any
person who counsels, advises, aids or abets another in the
commission of false swearing is on the first offense guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned in the county or
regional jail for a period not to exceed six months, or, in the
discretion of the court, both fined and imprisoned. For a second
or any subsequent conviction within five years, that person is
guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined
not more than five thousand dollars or be imprisoned in the
penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than five years
or, in the discretion of the court, fined and imprisoned.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any person in the military stationed outside West Virginia, or
his or her dependents who possess a motor vehicle with valid
registration, are exempt from the provisions of this article for
a period of nine months from the date that that person returns to
this state or the date his or her dependent returns to this
state, whichever is later.
(f) After the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-five, no person may transfer, purchase or sell a
factory-built home without a certificate of title issued by the
commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(1) Any person who fails to provide a certificate of title
upon the transfer, purchase or sale of a factory-built home is
guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall for
the first offense be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor
more than one thousand dollars, or be imprisoned in the county or
regional jail for not more than one year, or, in the discretion
of the court, both fined and imprisoned. For each subsequent
offense, the fine may be increased to not more than two thousand
dollars, with imprisonment in the county or regional jail for not
more than one year, or, in the discretion of the court, the
person may be both fined and imprisoned.
(2) Failure of the seller to transfer a certificate of title upon sale or transfer of the factory-built home gives rise to a
cause of action, upon prosecution thereof, allows for the
recovery of damages, costs and attorney fees.

ARTICLE 4A. LIENS AND ENCUMBRANCES ON VEHICLES TO BE SHOWN ON

CERTIFICATE OF TITLE; NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND
PURCHASERS.

§17A-4A-1. Certificate to show liens or encumbrances.

The division upon receiving an application for a certificate
of title to a vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer,
factory-built home or recreational vehicle for which a
certificate of title is required under article three of this
chapter, all of which are hereinafter in this article referred to
as vehicles, showing liens or encumbrances upon the vehicle,
shall, upon issuing to the owner thereof a certificate of title
therefor, show upon the face of the certificate of title all
liens or encumbrances disclosed by the application. All liens or
encumbrances shall be shown in the order of their priority being
according to the information contained in the application.
When an application shows liens and encumbrances, the
information as evidence of the lien in connection therewith as
the division may deem necessary shall also be furnished. The
information shall include the name and address of the lienholder,
the nature and kind of the lien, the date thereof, and the amount thereby secured. However, only the name and address of the
lienholder will be endorsed on the title certificate. Upon
issuing the certificate, the division shall thereupon send or
deliver it to the holder of the first lien.

§17A-4A-15. Expiration of lien or encumbrance; refiling.

The filing of any lien or encumbrance and its recordation
upon the face of a certificate of title to any vehicle as
provided in this article shall be valid for a period of ten years
only from the date of filing, unless the lien or encumbrance is
refiled in the manner provided in this article for filing and
recordation in the first instance, in which event the lien or
encumbrance shall be valid for successive additional periods of
two years from the date of each refiling: Provided, That in the
case of a factory-built home, the filing of any lien or
encumbrance and its recordation upon the face of a certificate of
title to the factory-built home shall be valid for a period of
thirty-three years from the date of filing.
When the last lien or encumbrance shown on a certificate of
title becomes invalid by the passage of time as provided in this
section, the commissioner of motor vehicles shall not be required
to maintain a lien index as to the certificate of title.

ARTICLE 6. LICENSING OF DEALERS AND WRECKERS OR DISMANTLERS;

SPECIAL PLATES; TEMPORARY PLATES OR MARKERS, ETC.

§17A-6-1.Definitions.

(a) Unless the context in which used clearly requires a
different meaning, as used in this article:
(1) "All-terrain vehicle" (ATV) means any motor vehicle
designed for off-highway use and designed for operator use only
with no passengers, having a seat or saddle designed to be
straddled by the operator and handlebars for steering control.
(2) "Applicant" means any person making application for an
original or renewal license certificate under the provisions of
this article.
(3) "Established place of business" shall, in the case of a
factory-built home dealer, trailer dealer, recreational vehicle
dealer, motorcycle dealer, used parts dealer and wrecker or
dismantler, mean a permanent location, not a temporary stand or
other temporary quarters, owned or leased by the licensee or
applicant and actually occupied or to be occupied by the
licensee, as the case may be, which shall be easily accessible to
the public, which shall conform to all applicable laws of this
state and the ordinances of the municipality in which it is
located, if any, which shall display thereon at least one
permanent sign, clearly visible from the principal public street
or highway nearest the location and clearly stating the business which is or shall be conducted thereat, and which shall have
adequate facilities to keep, maintain and preserve records,
papers and documents necessary to carry on the business and to
make the business available to inspection by the commissioner at
all reasonable times.
(4) "Established place of business" means, in the case of a
new motor vehicle dealer, a permanent location, not a temporary
stand or other temporary quarters, owned or leased by the
licensee or applicant and actually occupied or to be occupied by
him or her, as the case may be, which is or is to be used
exclusively for the purpose of selling new motor vehicles or new
and used motor vehicles, which shall have space under roof for
the display of at least one new motor vehicle and facilities and
space therewith for the servicing and repair of at least one
motor vehicle, which servicing and repair facilities and space
shall be adequate and suitable to carry out servicing and to make
repairs necessary to keep and carry out all representations,
warranties and agreements made or to be made by the dealer with
respect to motor vehicles sold by him or her, which shall be
easily accessible to the public, which shall conform to all
applicable laws of this state and the ordinances of the
municipality in which it is located, if any, which shall display thereon at least one permanent sign, clearly visible from the
principal public street or highway nearest said location and
clearly stating the business which is or shall be conducted
thereat, and which shall have adequate facilities to keep,
maintain and preserve records, papers and documents necessary to
carry on the business and to make the business available to
inspection by the commissioner at all reasonable times:
Provided, That each established place of business shall have a
display area which may be outside or inside or a combination
thereof of at least twelve hundred square feet which is to be
used exclusively for the display of vehicles which are offered
for sale by the dealer, office space of at least one hundred
forty-four square feet and a telephone listed in the name of the
dealership. Each established place of business shall be open to
the public a minimum of twenty hours per week at least forty
weeks per calendar year with at least ten of those hours being
between the hours of nine thirty a.m. and eight thirty p.m.,
Monday through Saturday: Provided, however, That the requirement
of exclusive use shall be met even though: (A) Some new and any
used motor vehicles sold or to be sold by the dealer or sold or
are to be sold at a different location or locations not meeting
the definition of an established place of business of a new motor vehicle dealer, if each location is or is to be served by other
facilities and space of the dealer for the servicing and repair
of at least one motor vehicle, adequate and suitable as
aforesaid, and each location used for the sale of some new and
any used motor vehicles otherwise meets the definition of an
established place of business of a used motor vehicle dealer; (B)
house trailers, trailers and/or motorcycles are sold or are to be
sold thereat, if, subject to the provisions of section five of
this article, a separate license certificate is obtained for each
type of vehicle business, which license certificate remains
unexpired, unsuspended and unrevoked; (C) farm machinery is sold
thereat; and (D) accessory, gasoline and oil, or storage
departments are maintained thereat, if the departments are
operated for the purpose of furthering and assisting in the
licensed business or businesses.
(5) "Established place of business" shall, in the case of a
used motor vehicle dealer, mean a permanent location, not a
temporary stand or other temporary quarters, owned or leased by
the licensee or applicant and actually occupied or to be occupied
by him or her, as the case may be, which is or is to be used
exclusively for the purpose of selling used motor vehicles, which
shall have facilities and space therewith for the servicing and repair of at least one motor vehicle, which servicing and repair
facilities and space shall be adequate and suitable to carry out
servicing and to make repairs necessary to keep and carry out all
representations, warranties and agreements made or to be made by
the dealer with respect to used motor vehicles sold by him or
her, which shall be easily accessible to the public, shall
conform to all applicable laws of this state and the ordinances
of the municipality in which it is located, if any, which shall
display thereon at least one permanent sign, clearly visible from
the principal public street or highway nearest the location and
clearly stating the business which is or shall be conducted
thereat, and which shall have adequate facilities to keep,
maintain and preserve records, papers and documents necessary to
carry on the business and to make the business available to
inspection by the commissioner at all reasonable times:
Provided, That each established place of business shall have a
display area which may be outside or inside or a combination
thereof of at least twelve hundred square feet which is to be
used exclusively for the display of vehicles which are offered
for sale by the dealer, office space of at least one hundred
forty-four square feet and a telephone listed in the name of the
dealership. Each established place of business shall be open to the public a minimum of twenty hours per week at least forty
weeks per calendar year with at least ten of those hours being
between the hours of nine-thirty a.m. and eight-thirty p.m.,
Monday through Saturday: Provided, however, That if a used motor
vehicle dealer has entered into a written agreement or agreements
with a person or persons owning or operating a servicing and
repair facility or facilities adequate and suitable as aforesaid,
the effect of which agreement or agreements is to provide the
servicing and repair services and space in like manner as if the
servicing and repair facilities and space were located in or on
the dealer's place of business, then, so long as the agreement or
agreements are in effect, it shall not be necessary for the
dealer to maintain the servicing and repair facilities and space
at the place of business in order for the place of business to be
an established place of business as herein defined: Provided
further, That the requirement of exclusive use shall be met even
though: (A) House trailers, trailers and/or motorcycles are
sold or are to be sold thereat, if, subject to the provisions of
section five of this article, a separate license certificate is
obtained for each type of vehicle business, which license
certificate remains unexpired, unsuspended and unrevoked; (B)
farm machinery is sold thereat; and (C) accessory, gasoline and oil, or storage departments are maintained thereat, if the
departments are operated for the purpose of furthering and
assisting in the licensed business or businesses.
(6) "Factory-built home" includes mobile homes, house
trailers and manufactured homes.
(7) "Factory-built home dealer" means every person (other
than agents and employees, if any, while acting within the scope
of their authority or employment) engaged in, or held out to the
public to be engaged in, the business in this state of selling
new and/or used house trailers, new and/or used manufactured
homes, or new and/or used mobile homes.
(8) "Farm machinery" means all machines and tools used in
the production, harvesting or care of farm products.
(9) "Fold down camping trailer" means every vehicle
consisting of a portable unit mounted on wheels and constructed
with collapsible partial sidewalls which fold for towing by
another vehicle and unfold at the camp site to provide temporary
living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use.
(10) "House trailers" means all trailers designed primarily
for highway use, but used for human occupancy on a continual
nonrecreational basis, but shall not include fold down camping
and travel trailers, mobile homes or manufactured homes.
(11) "Licensee" means any person holding any license
certificate issued under the provisions of this article.
(12) "Major component" means any one of the following
subassemblies of a motor vehicle: (A) Front clip assembly
consisting of fenders, grille, hood, bumper and related parts;
(B) engine; (C) transmission; (D) rear clip assembly consisting
of quarter panels and floor panel assembly; or (E) two or more
doors.
(13) "Manufactured home" has the same meaning as the term is
defined in section two, article nine, chapter twenty-one of this
code which meets the National Manufactured Housing Construction
and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. §5401 et seq.),
effective on the fifteenth day of June, one thousand nine hundred
seventy-six, and the federal manufactured home construction and
safety standards and regulations promulgated by the secretary of
the United States department of housing and urban development.
(14) "Manufacturer" means every person engaged in the
business of reconstructing, assembling or reassembling vehicles
with a special type body required by the purchaser if said
vehicles are subject to the title and registration provisions of
this code.
(15) "Mobile home" means a transportable structure that is wholly, or in substantial part, made, fabricated, formed or
assembled in manufacturing facilities for installation or
assembly and installation on a building site and designed for
long-term residential use and built prior to enactment of the
federal manufactured housing construction and safety standards
institute (ANSI) -- A119.1 standards for mobile homes.
(16) "Motorboat" means any vessel propelled by an
electrical, steam, gas, diesel or other fuel propelled or driven
motor, whether or not the motor is the principal source of
propulsion, but shall not include a vessel which has a valid
marine document issued by the bureau of customs of the United
States government or any federal agency successor thereto.
(17) "Motorboat trailer" means every vehicle designed for or
ordinarily used for the transportation of a motorboat.
(18) "Motorcycle dealer" means every person (other than
agents and employees, if any, while acting within the scope of
their authority or employment), engaged in, or held out to the
public to be engaged in, the business in this state of selling
new and/or used motorcycles.
(19) "Motor home" means every vehicle, designed to provide
temporary living quarters, built into an integral part of or
permanently attached to a self-propelled motor vehicle, chassis or van including: (A) Type A motor home built on an incomplete
truck chassis with the truck cab constructed by the second stage
manufacturer; (B) Type B motor home consisting of a van-type
vehicle which has been altered to provide temporary living
quarters; and (C) Type C motor home built on an incomplete van or
truck chassis with a cab constructed by the chassis manufacturer.
(20) "New motor vehicles" means all motor vehicles, except
motorcycles and used motor vehicles, of a type required to be
registered under the provisions of this chapter.
(21) "New motor vehicle dealer" means every person (other
than agents and employees, if any, while acting within the scope
of their authority or employment) engaged in, or held out to the
public to be engaged in, the business in this state of selling
five or more new motor vehicles or new and used motor vehicles in
any fiscal year of a type required to be registered under the
provisions of this chapter, except, for the purposes of this
article only, motorcycles.
(22) "Predecessor" means the former owner or owners or
operator or operators of any new motor vehicle dealer business or
used motor vehicle dealer business.
(23) "Recreational vehicle" means a motorboat, motorboat
trailer, all-terrain vehicle, travel trailer, fold-down camping trailer, motor home or snowmobile.
(24) "Recreational vehicle dealer" means every person (other
than agents and employees, if any, while acting within the scope
of their authority or employment) engaged in, or held out to the
public to be engaged in, the business in this state of selling
new and/or used recreational vehicles.
(25) "Sales instrument" means any document resulting from
the sale of a vehicle, which shall include, but not be limited
to, a bill of sale, invoice, conditional sales contract, chattel
mortgage, chattel trust deed, security agreement or similar
document.
(26) "Sell", "sale" or "selling" shall, in addition to the
ordinary definitions of the terms, include offering for sale,
soliciting sales of, negotiating for the sale of, displaying for
sale, or advertising for sale, any vehicle, whether at retail,
wholesale or at auction. "Selling" shall, in addition to the
ordinary definition of that term, also include buying and
exchanging.
(27) "Snowmobile" means a self-propelled vehicle intended
for travel primarily on snow and driven by a track or tracks in
contact with the snow and steered by a ski or skis in contact
with the snow.
(28) "Trailers" means all types of trailers other than house
trailers, and shall include, but not be limited to, pole trailers
and semitrailers but excluding recreational vehicles.
(29) "Trailer dealer" means every person (other than agents
and employees, if any, while acting within the scope of their
authority or employment) engaged in, or held out to the public to
be engaged in, the business in this state of selling new and/or
used trailers.
(30) "Transporter" means every person engaged in the
business of transporting vehicles to or from a manufacturing,
assembling or distributing plant to dealers or sales agents of a
manufacturer or purchasers.
(31) "Travel trailer" means every vehicle, mounted on
wheels, designed to provide temporary living quarters for
recreational, camping or travel use of such size or weight as not
to require special highway movement permits when towed by a motor
vehicle and of gross trailer area less than four hundred square
feet.
(32) "Used motor vehicles" means all motor vehicles, except
motorcycles, of a type required to be registered under the
provisions of this chapter which have been sold and operated, or
which have been registered or titled, in this or any other state or jurisdiction.
(33) "Used motor vehicle dealer" means every person (other
than agents and employees, if any, while acting within the scope
of their authority or employment) engaged in, held out to the
public to be engaged in, the business in this state of selling
five or more used motor vehicles in any fiscal year of a type
required to be registered under the provisions of this chapter,
except, for the purposes of this article only, motorcycles.
(34) "Used parts dealer" means every person (other than
agents and employees, if any, while acting within the scope of
their authority or employment) engaged in, or held out to the
public to be engaged in, the business in this state of selling
any used appliance, accessory, member, portion or other part of
any vehicle.
(35) "Wrecker/dismantler/rebuilder" means every person
(other than agents and employees, if any, while acting within the
scope of their authority or employment) engaged in, or held out
to the public to be engaged in, the business in this state of
dealing in wrecked or damaged motor vehicles or motor vehicle
parts for the purpose of selling the parts thereof or scrap
therefrom or who is in the business of rebuilding salvage motor
vehicles for the purpose of resale to the public.
(b) Under no circumstances whatever shall the terms "new
motor vehicle dealer", "used motor vehicle dealer", " factory-
built home dealer", "trailer dealer", "recreational vehicle
dealer", "motorcycle dealer", "used parts dealer" or
"wrecker/dismantler/rebuilder" be construed or applied under this
article in such a way as to include a banking institution,
insurance company, finance company or other lending or financial
institution, or other person, the state or any agency or
political subdivision thereof, or any municipality, who or which
owns or comes in possession or ownership of, or acquires contract
rights, or security interests in or to, any vehicle or vehicles
or any part thereof and sells the vehicle or vehicles or any part
thereof for purposes other than engaging in and holding out to
the public to be engaged in the business of selling vehicles or
any part thereof.
(c) It is recognized that throughout this code the term
"trailer" or "trailers" is used to include, among other types of
trailers, house trailers. It is also recognized that throughout
this code the term "trailer" or "trailers" is seldom used to
include semitrailers or pole trailers. However, for the purposes
of this article only, the term "trailers" has the meaning
ascribed to it in subsection (a) of this section.